Nested life boat construction



W. F- HICKSON NESTED LIFE BOAT CONSTRUCTION Dec. 20, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 22, 1957 1N VENTOR. Maum [flog sow Ava/pm Dc. 20, 1960 w. F. HICKSON 2,964,764

NESTED LIFE BOAT CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 22, 1957' 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Man/v A/ICA'SOAI BY%W% Anne/v6) Dec. 20, 1960' w. HICKSON 2,964,764

' NESTED LIFE BOAT CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 MLL/M F Mow-0v NESTED .LlFEiBOAT CONSTRUCTION William F. Hickson, Westfield, N21. assignor to Continental Copper 8: Steel Industries, Inc. (Welin Davit '& Boat Division), :Perth Amboy, N.J., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 22, 1957, Ser. No. 679,612

.-.1 Claim. (Cl.r930) The present invention relates to a nested life boat arrangement and itparticularly relates to an arrangement by which two life boats may be associated with the same davitand nested withinone another during stowage.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a nested lifeboat arrangement which will double the life boat capacity of the davit arrangement of a ship and at the same time permit ready release of the life boats in sequence when needed.

Another objectis to provide a simple, readily accomplishedstowage system for life boats whichwill permit the life boats to be reliably nested in'one another during stowage, with assurance that the boats will not tend to become dislodged or damage each other even'during pitching and rolling at-sea, and Withfurther assurance that, although securely stowed and nested in'inactive position, they will nevertheless be readily available for separately launching in time of need.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein maybe made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has, been found most satisfactory to provide a nested arrangement involving a smaller life boat positioned securely within a larger life boat withthe release gear of the larger life boat being directly secured and suspended from the davits, while the smaller lifeboat is suspended from a special pendant arrangement from the davit.

In operation, the lower boat is first lowered away from the upper boat, and when it has been launched the davit falls are elevated again and engaged with the release gear of the smaller boat, which is then removed from the pendant suspension and the inside or uppermost boat is then next lowered and launched in the water.

Although this operation could take place with more than two boats nested together, it has been found as a practical-matter that two boats are all that should be nested together to give assurance that the launching of both boats will take place during the period.

The inside boat is desirably supported along its keel upon a centralrstructure in the lower boat and then is provided with'chocks or other supports located along the lower sides of theboat, desirably at the position where the relatively fiat'bottom of the boat turns into the relatively sharp or vertical sides of the hull of the boat.

Where the seats extend lengthwise of the boat, they normally willbe out of the way of the upper nested boat construction.

However, where they extend transversely, collapsible bracket means are desirably provided to permit the transverse seats to be lowered so as not to interfere with the hull'of the upper nested boat.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention-"consists' of the novel construction, combination United States Patent nal portion of the boat, as indicated in Fig. 1, and they 'ice and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an-embodiment of the inventiombut it is to be understood thatchanges, variations andmodifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claim hereuntoappended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the severalviews:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view partly'in section of the two boats nested together in'the position in which they are supported from the davit.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 2- but of an alternative construction. I

Fig. 4 is a detailed side elevational-view'similar to the upper portion of Fig. 3, showing the manner of extending and collapsing the transverse seats.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional viewtaken upon the line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken upon the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of thedavit, with the boats in positionthereon indicating the 'nest of boats in an inboard position.

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 7, with boats being moved to an outboard position but with'only the'lower boat being lowered to the water and the other boat being held suspended whenthedavit falls.

Referring to Figs. '1 and 2, there is shown anupper nested boat A and a lower nested boat B.

Each of these boats is provided with release, gear C and D at each end thereof.

In the stowed position, the release gear D of the boat B have fall connections to the 'davits, whereas the release gear C of the smaller upper nested boat are not connected to the falls extending downwardly from the davit.

However, the upper boat is provided with the upstanding arms P which are connected by the cables or other connections G to the davit so that they will be held in position while the falls areutilized to lower thelower boat B.

Each life boat will have a propeller H which may be hand or motor propelled and the boats are so stowed that the propeller mechanism will not be fouled or damaged by the nesting.

It will be noted that there is a substantial space indicated at J between the bow ends of the boats, at K between the stern ends of the boats, at L betweenthe keels of the boats. The keel vM of the upper boat desirably rests upon acentral structure N and also is supported by the side chucks Q. (See particularly Fig.2.)

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that the keel M of the upper boat A fits into a series of V-recessed holder members 10, 11, 12 and 13, while the chocks Q are held in position by the angle members 14 positioned on the side structural members 15.

In the form shown in Fig. 2, the seats 16, 17 and 18 will extend longitudinally of the boat on eachside .of the air tanks 19. The central seats 20, like the outside seats 16, 17 and 18, will be out of the way of thehull of the upper boat A.

The support structure M consists of .the transverse member '21 with the sidev members 22 which extend as shown in Fig. l from the cross-member 23 sternwise to The chocks Q will extend across the median longitudiwill contact the upper boat about 27, where the flat hull bottom 28 turns into the vertical side hull portions 29.

The upper boat, as shown in Fig. 2, may have the horizontal seating arrangements 30 and 31, the manually actuated levers 32 for operating the propeller, and the stepped air tanks 33 and 34.

Referring to Fig. 1, the upwardly extending bars or fixed pendants F are fixedly mounted at 35 upon the bow and stern keel of plates 36 and 37.

The bars F, with the cables or ropes G will support the upper boat G from the davits while the lower boat is being launched.

After the lower boat has been launched, then the falls are elevated again, engaged with the upper release gear C, following which the cables or ropes G are disengaged from the pendants F and the upper boat is then launched in the same manner as the lower boat.

In the alternative constructions of Figs. 3 and 4, the lower boat R is shown as having transverse seating arrangements S with the collapsing supports T and U. The upper boat W is supported at its keel 50 upon the strip 51 between the half-V members 52 on the transverse structure 53.

The transverse structure 53 is supported in the recess 54 in the stepped side air tank structure 55. The seat structure S has a hinged element 56 with the hinge connections at 57 to the side of the interior of the boat and at 58 to the main structure 59. (See Figs. 3 and 4.)

- The main seat structure 59 extends to the center of the boat where it is separated by a short gap 60 from a corresponding seat structure at the opposite side of the boat.

Normally when the seats are in upright position, as indicated at solid lines in Fig. 3, the arms T and U will be substantially erect. However, when the seat elements 56 and 59 are lowered, as shown in solid line positions in Fig. 4, the legs T and U will be collapsed, with the seat being lowered out of the way so that it will not interfere with the nesting of the hull of the upper boat A.

Referring to Fig. 5, the structure T has a horizontal base element 61 taking the form of a U which has the side leg 62 with the through pivot 63 and the bolts 64 holding the structure down upon the frame portion or wood structure 65. The swinging member 66 will extend upwardly at 67 past the pivot connection 68 and between the bar members 69 and 70. It will terminate in an out- -turned portion 71, which, when the leg T is straight, will be lodged in the recess 72, acting as a stop and limiting the upright position of the structure T.

The side leg members 73 are pivotally mounted on the transverse pivot 74, which in turn is held by the U- shaped structure 75. The U-shaped structure 75 is bolted at 76 to the seat element 59.

The central member U, as best shown in Fig. 6, has a similar construction to that of the element T, as shown in Fig. 5. The lower bar 77 has a pivotal connection at 78 in the member 79 mounted on the structure at 80. The upper end of the bar 77 at 81 extends between the side members 82 and 83 and has a pivotal connection at 84.

The out-turned end portion 84 will fit in the recess 85 and act to limit the extension movement of the arm U.

The arms 82 and 83 are connected at the pivot rod 86 between the legs 87 of the U member 88. The base of the U member 88 is held by the bolts 89 on to the seat structure 59.

As is shown best in Figs. 3 and 4, the seat may be readily lowered from the solid line position of Fig. 3 to the dot and dash line position of Fig. 3; or from the dot and dash line position of Fig. 4 to the solid line position of Fig. 4 to permit the upper boat to be nested in position without interference with the transverse seat structure.

'Referring to the bottom of the hull of the upper boat, as indicated at W in Fig. 3, it will benoted that when the seats are lowered to the dot and dash position, they will be below the bottom of the hull and out of the way.

However, after the boat is launched away from the upper boat A of Figs. 1 and 2, the seats may be raised to be used by the passengers.

The launching arrangement is diagrammatically shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

In the inboard position, as shown in Fig. 7, the upper boat A and the lower'boat B 'may be lashed together by the lashing 100, having the connection at 101, by a slip hook and shackle, to the outer boat and extending at 102 over the upper boat. I

The davit head 103 is shown in its upper position on the davit trackway 104. The floating block 104a may extend downwardly at 105 to the release gear. The turn buckle 106 may be connected to the wire cable 107, and the sheave arrangement 108. The lower boat -B is stowed by the wire rope 109 which extends rearwardly, as indicated at 110.

The winch arrangement 111 is positioned on the deck 112 on the foundation 113.

When the lower boat B is to be launched, the davit head 103 will be moved along the trackway 104 to its outboard position, as shown in Fig. 8. In this position the upper nested boat A is first in upper dotted line position and then when it is launched it is moved to dot and dash line position.

For example, the larger boat, which may be a 35-foot boat B, may be loaded by means of the steps 114 from a lower deck 115, whereas the smaller boat A, after at taching to thefalls, may be loaded from the boat deck 112 in the position shown by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 8.

After the lower boat B has become water-borne, frapping lines 116 and 117 may be utilized to steady the boat position.

After the lower boat B has been launched, the falls are elevated to engage the release gear of the upper boat,

A, which is then released from the pendant suspension indicated at F--G of Fig. 1, so that it also may be lowered, receive passengers, and then be launched.

It is thus apparent that the applicant has provided a simple nested boat construction, permitting the use of two life boats, each of which will be securely stowed when not employed, and which will be launched in succession without loss of time, permitting safe launching of both boats with their passenger loads in case of need.

As many changes could be made in the above nested life boat construction, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departure from the scope of the claim, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, What is claimed is:

In a nested life boat arrangement of the type in which a smaller inner life boat is positioned securely within a larger outer life boat, said arrangement having davits, falls, and release gear to lower and release each boat separately with the larger life boat being directly secured and suspended from davits by said falls and release gear, and means including pendants for suspending the smaller life boat from the davits so that in operation the larger boat may be lowered away from and below the upper boat and so that the falls then may be elevated again r and engaged with the release gear of the smaller life boat and the pendant suspension removed, following which the smaller boat is then lowered by the falls, of transverse seating arrangements for said lower boat, comprising two seat structures each extending toward the center of the lower boat and separated from each other by a short gap, each seat structure being formed of a plurality of sections hingedly connected to each other and one section being hingedly connected to the side of the interior of the lower boat, and collapsible bracket means to lower said transverse seating arrangements so as not to interfere with the hull of the smaller nested boat and supports for said inner boat upon the interior of the outer boat along the central axis of the boats and along the outside edges of the exterior bottom of the inner boat located midway of the interior height of the outer boat, and said collapsible bracket means including foldable jointed links having hinged connections to the bottom of the seating arrangements and to the lower hull of the outer boat, said jointed links when collapsed lowering the seating arrangements toward the bottom of the lower boat and when extended elevating and supporting the seating arrangements to normal transverse horizontal seating position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Torrie June 10, 1919 Elling Aug. 2, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1912 Great Britain Mar. 16, 1916 

